Craig David

The Biography

�It�s been amazing,� says Craig David, describing what�s easily been the most surreal year of his young life. �I mean, I started off in my bedroom writing some tracks and dreaming of having a record deal. I remember thinking I�d just like to have people hear my songs.� And then came �BORN TO DO IT,� Craig�s Wildstar/Atlantic Records debut, and the whole world began to listen. With an easy blend of US R&B, pop, hip hop, and British dancefloor styles, the album soars from the autobiographical love-on-trial themes found within the cool flowing melodies of �Fill Me In� to the touching balladry of �Walking Away� and the smooth sex track, �Follow Me.� Throughout, David�s songs paint compelling portraits of a young person experiencing life�s passions while struggling to come to terms with the doubts, pain, and volatility ushered in by adulthood. In the process, Craig David introduces himself as a man utterly of the post-millennial moment - a talented singer, a genuine storyteller, and the consummate master-of-ceremonies at an all-night bacchanal set to his own bpm design. At age 18, the Southampton, England-based David became the youngest British male to score a #1 hit, when his debut solo single, �Fill Me In,� entered the UK charts in the top spot in March of 2000. His second single, �7 Days,� likewise entered the charts at #1, as did �BORN TO DO IT� upon its summer 2000 issue. Since then, the gifted singer and songwriter has achieved both global chart-topping success and a bevy of platinum-plus sales awards. To date, �BORN TO DO IT� has sold a remarkable 4 million copies worldwide, including 1.5 million in the UK alone. In addition to its seven international #1s, the album has earned gold, platinum, and multi-platinum certifications in 20 countries around the world, including five-times platinum in the UK; six-times platinum in Ireland; double-platinum in Australia, New Zealand, and Denmark; and platinum in Belgium, Germany, Holland, Norway, and Sweden. David punctuated those achievements last fall by winning three MOBO Awards in London, including Best Newcomer, Best R&B Act, and Best UK Single (for �Fill Me In�). This winter, Craig - complete with live band - headlined his first-ever arena tour with a 32-date sold-out trek across the UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, and Belgium. In addition to his enormous popularity, the soon-to-be 20-year-old artist has earned voluminous critical raves. NME proclaimed him to be �the best thing to happen to British R&B, ever,� going on to describe his music as �modern, inventive� This man is your 21st century, 24-carat, fresh-from-the-rack STAR.� Q agrees, calling David �the century�s first UK pop star.� Craig has also won kudos from his fellow recording artists, including Usher, Sisqo, and Jennifer Lopez. No less an authority than Sir Elton John recently declared, �If there�s a better singer than Craig David in Britain, then I�m Margaret Thatcher.� Craig David�s childhood was defined by the radio and records that never seemed to quit reverberating within the gritty asphalt climes of his Southampton neighborhood�s government-assisted council houses. �Terence Trent d�Arby was like the man of the household when it came to my mom,� reflects Craig, who remains a proud resident of the neighborhood. �I grew up on his music - he was the first concert I ever went to. Through the �80s it was the whole Michael Jackson phenomenon and I caught on to that, of course. Stevie Wonder was another I heard all the time. So those are the types of artists I got a lot of my influences from. The great thing about them is they�re all songwriters, all complete artists.� At 14, David took his own first musical steps, spinning his favorite R&B and hip hop records from the States on the local pirate radio station, PCRS - People�s Choice Radio Station. �It was a great learning experience for me, but also a bit daunting,� recalls Craig, who was also writing his first songs at the time. �You always thought the station would be raided and all your records were going to be taken.� It was during this same period that the eager teenager began to venture out as a club DJ in-training under the guidance of one DJ Flash - a friend of Craig�s musician father and both an experienced hand and someone the parents could trust. �Flash allowed me to MC with him,� David recalls. �I started rocking around on his residencies down the South Coast. Eventually, he let me to do a short set of my own.� A recurring Friday night DJ gig soon followed at the way-happening local club, Juice. �They�d always be packed,� he says. �It was a perfect forum for me to do my thing and express myself.� In 1996, David�s songwriting drew attention when he won a national competition with an original track called �I�m Ready.� By way of first prize, the song was recorded by the R&B quintet Damage and it wasn�t long before Craig found himself as the b/w of the UK�s #3 pop single. It was also �I�m Ready� that brought him to the attention of Mark Hill - well known as half of the pioneering production duo, Artful Dodger. �Mark was playing upstairs at Juice and I was playing my stuff downstairs,� says David . �Eventually, he heard about my winning the competition and was like, �Craig, man, that�s wicked. Why don�t you come over to my studio?� It was a perfect chance, because I�d all these catalogues of songs and I�d been wondering when I�d be able to get them down on tape.� Subsequently teamed at Hill�s recording space, the two found themselves in a shared groove straight away. �It was really free, because we weren�t working towards an album of any sort,� Craig says of those early 1997 sessions. �It was kind of like, �Let�s just write some songs, man.� We bounced ideas around - that�s the way that we worked. From that first day forward we kept writing together and we were able to bring two different styles to bear - me with my American R&B and hip hop, and Mark with his two step and garage.� The David/Hill partnership bore its first fruit in 1999 with the track, �Rewind� - originally credited to Artful Dodger and now included on Atlantic�s �BORN TO DO IT.� The dynamic single served as a sparkling introduction to David�s vocals on its way to becoming a British garage club anthem and bona fide crossover smash, hitting #2 on the UK pop chart. From that point, it didn�t take long before Craig had captured the attention of such modern producer/impresarios as Puff Daddy, Dallas Austin, Kevin �She�kspere� Briggs, and Guru - who paired with Craig on �No More,� a track from his recent all-star �VOLUME 3 JAZZMATAZZ STREETSOUL� album. In 2000 came the Hill-produced album and Craig�s rise to the top was officially commenced. With �BORN TO DO IT,� Craig David shows himself to be dramatically fulfilling his artistic destiny. In fact, the album title seems to say it all. �The album title comes from a line in one of my favorite films, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,� he explains with a laugh. �There�s one part where Charlie runs into the candy shop and asks the candy man, �How does he do it?� And the candy man says, �Well, do you ask a bird how it flies? Do you ask a fish how it swims?� And then the candy man says, �Well, no sir-ee you don�t. They do it because they were born to do it.� That makes perfect sense to me - if you�re born to do something, then that�s just what you do. So the title was my way of saying I was born to write and to sing songs - this is what I�ve got to offer.�

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